Muir’s comeback from injury sparks Rattlers over Briercrest

“I was really scared,” said Muir. “Mostly because I just knew this was a big game for us and I didn’t want to be off the court, I wanted to be out there to make sure I could help my teammates.”

The fifth-year veteran went down midway through the third quarter after having a drive of hers blocked, coming down hard on her ankle.

After getting carried to the dressing room and speaking with team physicians, it was determined that Muir had badly sprained her ankle and there was no expected long-term damage.

Muir then raced back onto the court and spoke with Rattlers head coach Clayton Nielsen, who checked her back into the game before the end of the quarter.

“It was really nice for me just to be able to make sure that I provided that leadership for the team,” said Muir. “I know we are a young team and sometimes you just need that calming, older presence out there.”

Muir finished her afternoon with 14 points, five assists, and five steals in 32 minutes of action against the Clippers and scored six of those points after sustaining her injury.

Just getting Katelyn Rozdeba and Paige Cooper back from injury over the last few weeks, Nielsen said the entire team breathed a sigh of relief seeing Muir back in the lineup.

“We haven’t quite learned yet to deal with when the initial, main starter goes out, how to deal with that,” said Nielsen. “To have her come back, that definitely helped us get momentum back and get our swag back a little bit.”

Dropping an 85-68 decision to the Clippers on Friday, the Rattlers came out firing against Briercrest in the rematch with a 25-16 lead after just the first quarter.

“We actually went over stuff in the morning to kind of tweak our offence a little bit to get our bigs more of an opportunity to go inside,” said Nielsen. “That really helped us in the first half get that 10-point lead.”

Rozdeba had a team-high 18 points and 14 rebounds in the victory, though player of the game honours went to sophomore guard Tatiana Dutka who went off for 15 points and 11 rebounds over the Clippers.

Following the game, Rozdeba said the hot start guided the team to the decisive victory.

“It felt nice to have a lead on them at the beginning,” said Rozdeba. “We just talked about it in the change room, like keep that lead for every quarter and we knew that’s how we could win our game.”

Moving back to a .500 record at 6-6 with the win, the Rattlers are now just two points behind the Clippers for fourth place in the ACAC South.

Searching for answers

Medicine Hat College Rattlers rookie Zavier Croft (Photo courtesy of Scott Roblin)

The losses keep piling up for the Rattlers men’s basketball team meanwhile, as they dropped their fourth straight on Saturday night 90-79 to the Clippers.

Trailing by five points at halftime, MHC was outscored 29-11 over the third quarter and saw their fourth quarter comeback fall just short.

Rattlers head coach Rich Humphrey said this slump is a test of his team’s ability to deal with frustrating results.

“Just our mental toughness, we’re a young group of guys and are a young team,” said Humphrey. “We’re struggling with on the court and off the court issues. So, this is what happens when you have a young team.”

After winning their first game of the season on October 19 against St. Mary’s University, the Rattlers have gone 1-10 and are fighting for their playoff lives.

That is setting up an important learning experience for the newcomers to the young Rattlers team.

“Basketball becomes a grind versus being fun,” said Humphrey. “They’re just learning the season is a long, hard season to fight through.”

One of the bright spots early in 2020 however has been the play of rookie guard Zavier Croft, who has emerged as one of the team’s most promising offensive weapons.

A first-year addition from Brampton, Ontario, Croft sits second in team scoring with 10.1 points per game trailing only sophomore Kieron Burgess.

“My mid-range is coming along,” said Croft. “Rich knew I can kind of shoot the ball and get it down, and we just kind of worked with that. I’m learning to choose the right shots rather than just chucking up a three or whatever, just working around my intelligence especially.”

Coming off the bench in eight of his 12 games so far this year, Croft is coming off a season-best 21-point performance against Briercrest.

Croft has added a great deal of versatility to the MHC club, as he’s bounced all over the court from picking up rebounds in the paint to showcasing his shooting range at the guard position.

A tool box of skills that the Rattlers coaching staff has been eager to utilize.

“When you’re able to stretch a team out, they have to defend your jump shot, opens up driving lanes for other teammates,” said Humphrey. “He makes everybody better around him when he’s playing well offensively.”

Both Croft and Humphrey agree that the rookie’s largest strides will need to come on the defensive side of the ball and learning to match up against collegiate talent.

But it’s Croft’s abilities with the ball that’s made him one of the team’s go-to rookies, something that he credits to Humphrey and his schemes.

“He definitely gives me a lot of space,” said Croft. “But, also sometimes on the defensive end when I miss, he’ll just bring me back on a leash and go, ‘Listen, you just got to stay down and do your thing.’”

Holding a 2-10 record on the season so far, the Rattlers trail Briercrest for the final playoff spot in the ACAC South by eight points.

Rattlers basketball teams will kick off a home-and-home series with the Ambrose University Lions in Calgary on Friday night, before returning to Medicine Hat on Saturday for games at 6:00 and 8:00 pm.

by Scott Roblin

Muir’s comeback from injury sparks Rattlers over Briercrest

Searching for answers

Our Community